Page 28 of Escape

What was wrong with me?

Why was I okay with doing this to him? Why was I okay doing this to myself?

Up until now, I didn’t have any other option. Now, I did.

Huck was sitting right in front of me, staring me in the face, and begging me to let him help. If I didn’t take him up on his offer, maybe I deserved to suffer the consequences.

I thought it would be best to get some clarification. “How would this work?”

His fingers twitched against my hand, which he had refused to let go of, and a look of genuine surprise littered his expression. “Are you asking how it’s possible? You want to know how I’d help you get out now?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

Some of the tension he’d been carrying in his shoulders eased as they fell slightly. “It’s simple, really. I’ll take you home with me and give you a place to stay, where you’ll be safe.”

“I can’t move in with you, Huck,” I said.

“Why not? You’re living with someone who doesn’t think twice about putting his hands on you. I can promise you my place is a whole lot better than where you are now,” he returned.

I shook my head. “I’m not disagreeing with you on that. I just… I don’t want to disrupt your life.”

Huck shot me a dubious look. “Honey, if you think my life isn’t already disrupted knowing I made the biggest mistake of my life to walk away from you years ago, you’re wrong. Let me fix this. Let me make this right.”

My lips parted as something squeezed in my chest. Did he really believe he made the biggest mistake of his life by walking away from me years ago? What did he mean by that?

I spent too much time trying to come up with answers that Huck made me another offer. “Look, if that’s too much for you right now, then let me help you out by giving you whatever money you need to get yourself set up somewhere else. If you’d like to just get a hotel temporarily, that’s fine, too. One of my coworkers is with the owner of Short and Sweet, the tiny home hotel community here in Steel Ridge. Of course, I’d rather have you with me for a bit, just until we know how your fiancé intends to react. I don’t know what kind of resources he has to locate you, but I don’t think he’s the kind of man who’s simply going to accept you’ve left.”

“I can’t take your money, Huck. I just can’t do that.”

His eyes were pleading with mine when he urged, “Then just stay with me for a bit. I’ve got a spare bedroom, so you’ll have a comfortable and safe place to stay. You can then work whatever shifts you need to work to save the rest of the money necessary for your own place. I don’t care how long it takes, and I promise you won’t be an inconvenience.”

I stared at him in silence for a long time, time I didn’t have to waste if I was going to make it back to Kurt’s place to make dinner.

Was that the reason I was ready to blurt out my agreement? Or was it something else?

This was strange, no doubt. I had been working and saving for something that felt like it was an eternity away, but now I was being given an option to make it happen much earlier than I had anticipated.

It was terrifying in one sense—this was what I’d known all my life, and I couldn’t quite imagine anything different—but I had Huck standing in front of me, ready to help, to get me to a place I always dreamed could exist for me one day. He was the only reason I could even wrap my head around why I felt an odd sense of calm.

“Okay.”

Huck’s brows shot up. “Okay? You’re going to do it?”

It might have been crazy, but I didn’t think I could regret this decision. I nodded. “Yes. I just need to be able to get my things out of the house. I don’t have a ton of things, but I have some stuff there. And I would like to be able to keep it.”

“I understand that. Do you need help moving it?”

Shaking my head, I answered, “No. No, it’s nothing big like that. I’ll just need to pack a bag tomorrow after he leaves in the morning for work.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Is that too soon?”

“I’m thinking it’s too late. Why not now?”

I glanced up at the clock. “It’s getting late. I don’t have much time left to get home and make dinner. I won’t be able to pack up everything before he gets home, so I just thought it’d be better for me to pretend like everything is normal tonight, and in the morning, since I don’t have to work tomorrow, I can take my time, pack up, and leave without fear of being caught in the process.”

Huck wore a look that indicated he was not thrilled with my plan. “What if?—”